Air view shows
Portalón and the area swept by the Río Portalon Sunday.

Central
Pacific digs out and surveys the rain damage

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Heavy rains Sunday caused problems for at least 500 persons in the
Central Pacific, and the national emergency commission has declared an
alert in the Quepos region.

There also was rain damage further south in Río Claro and
Golfito, the commission said.

The rest of the Pacific coast is under a preventative alert, said
the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y
Atención de Emergencias.

The commission set up a command center at the Quepos fire station and
called in engineers and geologists to evaluate the condition of the
infrastructure, including dikes, bridges, roads and pipelines.

The early reports were not good. Two dikes collapsed. One was in
Portalón, the long-suffering town south of Quepos. The other was
in Río Claro to the south, the commission said.

Bridges were destroyed in Portalón and La Lucha de Río
Claro, too, and the communities were cut off from the rest of the world.

Some 150 meters of road between el Silencio and Santo Domingo were
destoyed, and there is no passage there and to the community of El
Brujo de Pérez Zeledón where streams were out of their
banks. The commission said it was hiring machines to open the way.

The commision said that Route 2 between Río Claro and Ciudad
Neily was blocked by landslides

but a way was opened by
machinery Monday. There were more slides in Bambel in the Golfito area.

A pipeline colapsed between Chacarita and Rincón de Osa on the
way to
Puerto Jiménez, and the mess means that only four-wheel drive
vehicles
can get through. Another pipeline was reported damaged in
Río Caracol
de Río Claro, and passage was blocked.

The emergency commission said that Mata Palo, Naranjito, Dos Bocas and
Hatillo also suffered damage. At one point water was up to the waist of
an adult in sections of Quepos Sunday evening.

Some 21 persons were being housed in the Gimnasio Municipal in Golfito
and the Cooperativa de Producción de Palma was holding
some 70
families of Finca 63 in Río Claro.

Some 35 families in Portalón fled the town when the rain began,
said
the comission, and they are staying with famlies and friends in Quepos.

Portalón was the community nearly wiped out by the raging
Río Portalón
in September 2005. The bridge to the community was wiped out then, too.

A commission assessment team flew over Portalón Monday and found
that
about half of the town had not been damaged by the river currents.
However, there were ample signs that the river had run out of its banks
and swept a large section of the town.

There was no sign of the full-size trees and giant rocks that swept
through the town a year ago when most structures were destroyed.

With this issue, A.M. Costa Rica begins a sports page that will
accommodate local sports and international sports wire feeds.

The new page is in response to favorable reception by readers of
the BBC sports summary that is carried on the fourth news page.
However, some North American readers complained that there should be
more baseball and U.S. football coverage.

The new page is linked to the navigation boxes of the newspages and may
be found HERE!

The editors hope that the page also will provide an outlet for
participatory sports in which expats here engage as well as some sports
generally restricted to the expat community, like flag football.

So readers are invited to provide results of their sports activities,
including sports fishing.

In addition, the newspaper is now publishing international news related
to the Internet on the
employment page and news of entertainment on the calendar page.

Our readers' opinions

He is not concerned
about high-tension lines

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I usually enjoy Garland Baker’s advice regarding real estate in Costa
Rica, but Monday’s article on health issues tied to the electric grid
made me scratch my head. I’m all for a healthy community. But that can
only be delivered by good, basic infrastructure including reliable
electricity. Costa Rica will not prosper without it. I always laugh when
my friends talk about the “good old days.” I reply, “Yes, outdoor
plumbing, one-room schoolhouses, polio . . . .!”

Terry Beach
Belleville, Illinois

Canadian says that Bush
goes in with guns blaring

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I like to take this opportunity to respond to G. McMahan’s letter in
your publication on Oct. 12.

This person is under the impression that what Mr. Bush did was correct.
I’d like to point out that no one invited him or his army into Iraq.
His father did at least understand the bounds of the conflict before.
That was to remove Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

This time, using fabricated evidence and without U.N. approval, he
violated the borders of a country that wasn’t causing trouble. Yes,
Iraq’s political history is not the fairest or cleanest, but that is an
internal matter, not one the U.S. should have intervened in.

G. McMahan mentions other conflicts not been resolved since World War
II. That is not because of wishy washy politicians totally, but one
must look at the conflicts. Vietnam, for instance had been fought by
the French for 20 years before they decided it was unwinable, but the
U.S .thought they could win. Wrong!!! Korea was a tie at best and as
for the invasion of Grenada, well, they just shouldn’t have been there.
It’s a British protectorate and NONE of the U.S.’s business!!!

Maybe before the U.S. goes in with guns blaring, they should consider
their options better. Now we have North Korea creating a political “hot
potato”, the U.N. wants the U.S. and N. Korea to talk. But, no, the
U.S. and the Bush administration just want stiff sanctions without
getting the other side of the story. Democracy is based on
understanding ALL the sides of an argument. Namely free speech, but
this administration seems bent on dictatorship. If they don’t like it,
they invade it.

The attitude of this administration does not instill a sense of
security and although I feel for the troops that are overseas, I have
no respect for the Bush politics that engulf the world in conflict.

Brian Castle
Ontario, Canada

Amnet kept his old rate,
this computer user reports

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Everyone who subscribes to Amnet for Internet service needs to check
their bills.

I signed up for Amnet Internet service in August. I signed the
contract for 1mbps/256 service and told the sales representative that
that is the service I wanted. He explained that the rates were being
lowered in September due to the competition’s rates.

So, I assumed my bill was going to be lowered in September. I was
wrong. What Amnet did, on their own, was to increase the 1mbps
service to 2mbps and keep you at the same monthly rate.

I specifically wanted to stay on the 1mbps rate, but I guess they
decided they would lose too much money, so arbitrarily they kept me,
and everyone else, at the same rate. So they are now advising me that I
need to go to their office to change back to the 1mpbs service without
a credit for prior months.

We all know of course there is not much more you can do with 2mbps
service that you can’t do with 1mbps service. We also know that
the speed you actually receive is much less than what you pay for, it
all depends on the bandwidth in the area.

I would suggest that everyone look at their bill to see what they are
paying and go to Amnet to change their service to the 1mbps service and
lower your bill, unless they believe they will benefit from the 2mbps
service.

Also, make sure they contact RACSA to change your service. I have
found they have a difficult time communicating with RACSA.

Patrick Williams
Rohrmoser

Professional
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How about a car you can tune up yourself without calling in a technical
team from NASA?

How about those politically incorrect V-8 engines that get you there
before you know you have left? With no vibration.

Back when gasoline was 29.9 cents a gallon, the cars were made of
steel, and not some newfangled plastic. The guys at the assembly plants
built muscles mounting heavy fenders, and the doors forever made a
solid sound when slammed.

Those days are just around the corner at a local junk yard where the
owner is hoarding a handful of vehicles from 1950 to 1960. They
are
U.S. products: Chevrolets, a

Dodge, a 1950 Plymouth plus a few odd
relics. All have seen ample service on Costa Rican highways.

Modern cars would have rusted through by now, but these solid highway
citizens are ready for a little tender care and maybe a battery, new
tires, a paint job, new interior, valves, brakes, oh and that thing
they call a carburetor. Not to mention ignition wires, a little solder
on the radiator, a few pieces of replacement chrome.

Did we mention shocks and a new exhaust system?

There are those who love such cars, which is why the owner is willing
to part with them for a mere $3,000 to $4,000 apiece. He is Celso
Andrés
Fernandez Jiménez. He doesn't take checks, there is no guarantee
past the curb, and bring your own tow truck

Even
the government is keepng eye on new exchange system

By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff

Even public entities that deal in large sums of money are a little
nervous with the new currency exchange system that goes into effect
today.

The Ministerio de Hacienda said that its customs unit, the aduana,
starting at midnight Monday would use the Friday bank exchange rate of
523.39 colons per dollar. After today, the customs agency would be
using the reference rate supplied by the Banco Central.

Customs agents handle many goods denominated in dollars, and they have
to collect duties in colons. But the Central Bank is not publishing a
reference rate until later today.

The ministry said that other elements of the government also were
paying close attention to the change. That includes the
Tesorería Nacional, the Dirección General de
Tributación, the Contabilidad Nacional, and the Dirección

de Presupuesto Nacional. The ministry collects
taxes and maintains a national budget.

The Central Bank has
announced that it
will no longer be setting specific rates for the colons. Until now,
the Central Bank purchased and sold dollars at a rate that was set
daily. Now the Central Bank will let the colon float, initially between
a floor of 514.78 colons to the dollar and a ceiling of 530.22 colons
to the dollar.

Banks and authorized exchange houses will be able to set their own buy
and sell rates for the colon and dollar within that range. The Central
bank will continue to devalue the colon each day by raising the ceiling
some 14 centimos or hundreds of a colon and lowering the floor by 6
centimos.

Those with big holdings in colons are concerned that the currency
might lose value rapidly. The Central Bank said that the system is a
way to reduce inflation, which is now running at about 11 per cent.

Agents
say wine confiscated at Juan Santamaría airport packed a punch

By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff

Anti-drug agents stopped a Spanish woman returning home at Juan
Santamaría airport and said she had nearly 10 kilos of cocaine
diluted in bottles of wine.

The arrest took place Saturday when the woman
was waiting to board a plane to
Madrid. Anti-drug agents said they spotted her because she was nervous.

Venezuela and Guatemala are locked in a fierce battle at the United
Nations to win an open seat on the Security Council. Ten rounds of
voting have proven inconclusive.

Venezuela's bid for a Latin American seat in the Security Council
suffered a setback Monday as it finished behind rival Guatemala in nine
of 10 rounds of voting in the General Assembly. One round ended in a
tie. But in the 10th and final ballot of the day, Guatemala had 110
votes, 15 short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Venezuela had 77.

Voting continues Tuesday. Diplomats say the contest appears deadlocked.
Each side seems to have enough support to block the other from getting
the needed votes, but not enough to win.

"I think it will take a while," she said. "I don't think we'll have a solution tomorrow."

The campaign for the Latin seat has been bitter. Venezuela and its
president, Hugo Chavez, have characterized the race not as a contest
with Guatemala, but as a fight against the United States. He has
lobbied heavily with countries that are a odds with the United States.

As his country's support faded late in the day, Venezuela's U.N.
ambassador, Francisco Javier Arias Cardenas, lashed out, called
Washington's backing of Guatemala obscene and vowed not to withdraw
from the race.

"Venezuela will not quit for anything," he said. He accused the United
States of acting like the "owner of the universe," and thanked those
who he said "oppose the gross and obscene campaign the United States is
waging against Venezuela." He accused Guatemala of being Washington's
puppet.

Guatemala's foreign minister, Gert Rosenthal, immediately responded to
that charge. He said that his country's foreign policy differs from the
United States on many points.

"We were not member of the coalition of the willing in Iraq," said
Rosenthal. "We have diplomatic relations with Cuba. We are an
independent country, and, frankly, we resent it a bit being told that
we are going to toe the line of the U.S. or any other power. We make
our own decisions."

The apparent stalemate has given rise to diplomatic speculation that a
compromise candidate might eventually spring up. Mexico, Chile and
Uruguay have been prominently mentioned as possible compromises.
Rosenthal told reporters "this is not the time to give up" but
acknowledged compromise might be the only way to break the deadlock.

"We have to be realistic, if this goes on for several days, and we can
see that there's no movement in either of the candidates being able to
get two-thirds of the vote, we probably would have to think of a third
consensus candidate for the region, but we think the time hasn't come
for that yet," he said.

Washington's U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, had been due to meet with
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington Monday, but stayed in
New York to bolster support for Guatemala's candidacy. Bolton said he
was ready for the long haul, noting that in 1979, a battle for a seat
between Latin American contenders Colombia and Cuba went on for 154
ballots before a compromise candidate was found. Mexico was elected on
the 155th ballot.

Bolton said that, for Washington, preventing Venezuela from winning a
seat was important in ensuring that the work of the Security Council is
not disrupted.

"It's very rare for the United States to say anything in a Security
Council race, and we didn't do this because of expectation of votes on
the council," he said. "We did it because of our concern for the
integrity of the council itself."

Balloting for four other non-permanent council seats Monday went
smoothly. Belgium and Italy were elected without opposition for
European seats, and South Africa was unopposed for an African seat.
Indonesia easily defeated Nepal in the first round of a race for an
Asian seat.

Banana billionaire was a surprise when he finished first

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

In Ecuador's presidential election, the top two candidates will compete
in a run-off in Nov. 26. With nearly 70 percent of the votes counted, a
billionaire banana magnate is leading with nearly 27 percent of the
vote, and a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is
second with almost 23 percent.

To win outright, a candidate needed 50 percent, or 40 percent with a 10-point lead over the other candidates.

Voters waking up in Ecuador Monday may have been surprised to learn
that one of the wealthiest men in the country, Álvaro Noboa, was
narrowly ahead of the expected front-runner, Rafael Correa, in Sunday's
elections.

Correa, a 43-year-old U.S.-educated economist, is running as a
left-leaning political outsider. He proudly acknowledges close ties to
Venezuelan President Chávez, and says he would end free-trade
negotiations with the United States, and ask the U.S. to leave its
counter-narcotics base in Ecuador.

In contrast, 55-year-old Noboa runs a massive banana-growing and exporting company, and has promised

to ally himself with the United States. Noboa has traveled across
Ecuador in recent weeks, handing out medicine, wheelchairs and
computers. This is his third run for the presidency, and many in
Ecuador believe Noboa would mean more foreign investment, more
factories and more jobs.

Noboa told the press after the elections that the people of Ecuador
have a clear choice. He said his opponent, Correa, represents a
Communist position, like Cuba. He said his proposal is to be like
Spain, Chile, the United States and Italy, countries with liberty.

For his part, Correa appeared on television a short time later,
referring to Noboa's alleged use of child labor on his banana
plantations, and to all the presents Noboa gave out to voters during
his campaign.

Ana Palacio, the daughter of Ecuador's current President Alfredo
Palacio, may have summed up the hopes of many Sunday when she commented
after voting:

"I hope that democracy endures, that we choose well, and the president
can remain in office for the full four years," she said. Ecuadorians
have ousted three presidents in the last decade through street protests.

Germaine Myrie Medrano of Puerto Viejo de
Limón shows his abilities in California.

Three
Costa Ricans make quarterfinals of world surf contest

By the A.M.
Costa Rica staffAnd special reports

Costa Ricans Germaine Myrie Medrano, Gilberth Brown and Diego Naranjo
have qualified for the quarterfinals of the World Surfing Games 2006 in
Huntington Beach, California.

Competition began Monday with the open longboard and bodyboard
divisions. Spirits were high among the 33 competing teams from as many
countries, with the waves breaking from 2 to 4 feet making the wave
selection crucial for the world’s finest as they battled it out on
behalf of their respective countries.

Myrie Medrano of Puerto Viejo de Limón won his first heat in the
second round of the open with 10.70 points. Jean Carlos Schaeffer of
Venezuela took second in the heat with 10.36.

Brown scored a 12.13 in the 15th open heat, easily defeating Peter
Rangel of Venezuela and Gavin Gillette of Hawaii.

Diego Naranjo was second in the 30th heat of
the day with a 9.50, exceeded only by the 10.10 of Alex Smith of Hawaii.

All three went on to win in the second heat, too, thereby qualifying
for the quarterfinals.

Luis Vindas finished second in his
first heat, but was eliminated when he finished third in the second
heat of the day.

Over the first two qualifying rounds, the open longboard division
called for a combination of traditional techniques and modern day
tricks. Registered with the highest combined two-wave score of 14.60,
Matthew Moir of South Africa led the pack earning the highest score of
the competition with an 8.5 with his speed.

His performance was then followed by a surprise second place score by
the United Kingdom’s Benjamin Skinner with an impressive combined
14.50. Three-time world champion Colin McPhillips of the United States
finished with the third highest combined score of 14.0.

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